The Christmas Carriage and Other Writings of the Holiday Season by Alice Jane-Marie Massa - Blurb Blitz - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Alice Jane-Marie Massa and her new book, “The Christmas Carriage and Other Writings of the Holiday Season”!  For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $20 Panera Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Alice and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!

Please note that this giveaway is only available to US residents.  Sorry INTL – please check out other giveaways on this blog.

The Christmas Carriage and Other Writings of the Holiday Season

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

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GENRE: Collection of Short Stories, Memoirs, Essays, and Poetry

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BLURB:

To celebrate holiday reading, author Alice Jane-Marie Massa invites you to join her on a snowy, imaginary carriage ride featuring her holiday memoirs, short stories, essays, and poetry from her book, THE CHRISTMAS CARRIAGE AND OTHER WRITINGS OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

Spanning from Thanksgiving through the new year, this collection includes her remembrances of Hoosier holidays in the 1950s and 1960s.  "The Christmas Carriage" (set in Milwaukee) and "The Puppies of New Year's Eve," along with stories about a military family, two holiday weddings, and a homeless person will warm your heart this winter.  From "Zoe's Christmas Eve" to "Snow Dancers," Alice's poetry provides merry and memorable reading for both adults and children.

With a beautifully festive cover, this book is one you will want to wrap as a holiday gift, as well as a book that you will want to keep beside your chair while you settle into the sparkle and joy of this holiday season.

For additional information about ordering this 101-page book in either print, electronic, audio, or braille versions, please visit the author's web pages at the links below.

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EXCERPT ONE:

For at least three decades, Mrs. Nevando's Christmas wish was to have a carriage ride through the city on Christmas Eve.  She never mentioned this wish to her husband:  the idea seemed all too frivolous.  Twelve years ago, when she sat beside  his hospital bed, Mrs. Nevando dozed periodically and dreamed of a Christmas carriage ride.  Each of the past twelve Christmases that she endured with the memories of her deceased, beloved husband, the 74-year-old woman still entertained the thought of  a carriage ride, but then routinely dismissed the notion.  "An old woman riding in a carriage alone on Christmas Eve!  What would people think?" she often found herself wondering aloud--well, in an audible whisper.

In mid-December, Mrs. Nevando was in her usual mode of declining all holiday invitations although she was not receiving as many as she had in earlier years.  One son was somewhere in Europe, and the other son was on the East Coast.  Of course, they knew their mother was a Midwestern girl--old girl--who did not care to join the masses at airports during any holiday season.  After she wrote e-mails to both sons and a few other family members, Mrs. Nevando found herself exploring the website for the city carriage rides.  Although she read that carriage rides were available on Christmas Eve, the cost was too expensive for her taste.  Nevertheless, she reasoned that one carriage ride was certainly way less money than an airline ticket to Italy or even to Boston.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Although Alice Jane-Marie Massa has lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for over 25 years, growing up in the rural Indiana town of Blanford (with a population of approximately 400) influenced the subject matter and style of her writing. After earning master's degrees from Indiana State University and Western Michigan University, Alice, still a Hoosier at heart, taught for 25 years, including 14 years of teaching writing and public speaking at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Having retired from teaching English and grading stacks of student papers, she now focuses on her own writing.

Alice invites you to visit her blog (http://alice13wordwalk.wordpress.com) where, since January of 2013, she has posted weekly her poetry, essays, memoirs, or short stories. Her writings on Wordwalk frequently focus on her Indiana hometown of Blanford, her four guide dogs, her Italian ancestors, and writing. Additionally, some of her writing pieces have been published in Indiana Voice Journal, Magnets and Ladders, Dialogue, Newsreel, and The ACB Braille Forum, as well as in the anthology Behind Our Eyes: A Second Look.

Away from her desk, Alice enjoys reading, container gardening, and the television program Jeopardy. Since March 21, 1990, Alice's guide dogs have added sparkle, spirit, and independence to her life. Currently, most of all, she is grateful for her long walks with her fourth Leader Dog, Willow (a black Labrador), who is following very well in the amazing pawprints of Alice's beloved first three Leader Dogs—Keller (a Golden Retriever), Heather (a Yellow Labrador), and Zoe (a Black Lab/Golden Retriever mix).

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CONNECT WITH ALICE:

Blog:

http://alice13wordwalk.wordpress.com

Website:

http://www.dldbooks.com/alicemassa

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33223539-the-christmas-carriage

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16148233.Alice_J_Massa

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle:

http://amzn.to/2z9sQV3

Amazon Paperback:

http://amzn.to/2zXhDdm

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-christmas-carriage-alice-j-massa/1125271045

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-christmas-carriage

Apple iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-christmas-carriage/id1182057961?mt=11

Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/686182

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Alice will be awarding a $20 Panera GC (US Only) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.